The present invention deals with a device which is designed effect an oscillating movement of a fluid ejection nozzle formed as a part of the oscillating device, by means of the use of fluid under pressure. In its preferred embodiment, the present invention is ideally adapted to be interconnected between a water pipe, and a shower head, such that the force of the water under pressure in the pipe as it travels through the oscillating device, will cause an oscillating movement of the shower head attached to the oscillating unit.
The prior art with respect to various types of shower heads is fairly well established. The most current types of shower heads generally include those which have a variety of fluid ejection openings, and will cause a variety of water movement depending upon the fluid outlet opening selected. The typical newest shower heads consist of massage units which have various types of openings to effect different types of water movement resulting in a massage effect, or a pulsating effect. The operator of the shower may select a particular fluid opening by simply rotating the front portion of the shower head until the desired opening is selected and positioned in the path of the fluid opening. It is also well-known that there are a variety of different types of shower heads, each one different from the other by the water pattern which the shower head is able to achieve depending upon its method of construction. However, in virtually all instances, the user of the shower must initially position the angle of the shower head by manually rotating the shower head to the desired angle. It is well-known, for example, that virtually all shower heads include a ball joint adjacent to the point of interconnection of the shower head to the shower pipe. The ball joint permits the operator to adjust the shower head to a desired inclined angle to achieve the optimum exposure of the user's body to the shower. It is quite apparent, however, that in those instances where a shower is utilized by children, or elderly people who are incapacitated, or even partially incapacitated, the ability to reach the shower head for purposes of adjusting the same is difficult if not impossible in some instances. For example, small children are not capable of reaching to the height necessary in order to adjust the shower head. In the case of elderly people, especially those who may have various forms of desease, or otherwise incapacitated to some extent, it is virtually impossible to reach the shower head for adjustment purposes.
It will also be apparent to those who have utilized showers, that even when a shower head is adjusted to the proper angle, the shower head is not capable of ejecting the water to all parts of the body, but rather, the shower head will remain at a stationary angle and is therefore incumbent upon the user of the shower to move in and about the path of the water in order to apply the water to all parts of the body. This again is a difficult procedure for people who have incapacities, or for small children who may be prone to slipping on a wet tub floor surface.
It has therefore been deemed desirable to develop a device which may be interposed between the shower pipe and the shower head, which will effect an oscillating movement to the shower head during the showering process. In this manner, the shower head will continuously move between a high point and a low point which is selected between the highest point that one would want a shower head adjusted to, to the lowest point of such adjustment. In this manner, during the process of one showering, the shower head will move between the high and low point for several cycles, and permit the user thereof to have the water movement pathway extend from the very bottom to the very top of the user's body. The path of travel, being between a very high and a very low point, will in effect be useful for all persons, including children, and those having any form of incapacity such that adjustment of the shower nozzle in the first incidence is difficult if not impossible.
In addition, the present invention contemplates an adjustment feature whereby the device may be adjusted to slow the oscillating movement of the shower head, or to stop the same entirely. In this manner, by a simple manual adjustment handle, a shower head connected to the oscillating device may be variously adjusted to any given inclined angle depending upon the needs of the user, or may be left in the oscillating mode entirely.
Insofar as the prior patented art is concerned, the prior art basically only shows shower heads which may have certain different types of water patterns, but each of which are selected by means of an adjustment feature in the shower head. For example, the shower head shown in patent 3,791,584, is directed to a shower head having a nozzle assembly and a discharge adjusting member such that one can adjust the mode of discharge of the water therefrom thereby to change the type of water movement which is ejected from the shower head. It will be noted, however, that the shower head per se is only adjustable by means of a ball joint, and there is nothing to effect the oscillating movement of the shower head on a continuous basis.